This is Part 4 of our Walt Disney World vacation. Catch up on post 1, post 2, and post 3. In our last post we dodged a lot of rain for a few days and then closed down EPCOT with watching EPCOT Forever. In this post we’re going to document our last three days on Walt Disney World resort and how a Disney Princess changed our plans for us.

Day 8 (July 03, 2021)

Magic Kingdom

If you’ve read along on our other posts, you’ve noticed a trend and the trend didn’t slow down today. Rain drops falling on Maddie’s roof woke us again. Instead of slogging through the rain all day, the family voted to wait until after lunch, when the storm was predicted to clear.

After lunch in the trailer, we set out for Magic Kingdom. We passed through the gates and the kids requested some Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. After 4 rides we finally pried the kids away from Big Thunder.

From there we went on were Dumbo, Barnstormer, Space Ranger Spin, People Mover, and the Astro Orbiter. It was raining off and on and just getting miserable. Some of the indoor rides provided some nice retreat, but when the skies opened up as we were stuffing my 6’5″ frame along into the Astro Orbiter, the wet butt settled it. We headed back to Fort Wilderness to dry out and eat dinner.

Drying Out

With Hurricane Elsa’s forecast getting better accuracy. As a family, we weren’t particularly worried about winds or safety, but we were not keen to pay $120+ for a campsite and watch it rain sideways for days on end. So, on the boat from Magic Kingdom we made the decision to cut our time at Walt Disney World short (and our follow on days in Port Canaveral, FL).

We rescheduled our theme park reservations to use up our entire Disney tickets, cancelled Port Canaveral reservations, and scored a few days at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL. Then we ordered and grabbed P&J’s Southern Takeout for dinner.

There were a few tears shed and some sad faces for awhile. The Rib and Chicken Dinner from P&J’s helped a bit to ease the sadness as well as scoring 3 nights at Gulf State Park, so we’d still get some beach time in.

Magic Kingdom in the Evening

After dinner we loaded back up to catch the boat back to MK for fireworks. Our timing was a little poor. We got through security about 905pm before the 915 show. Main Street and the Hub were at full dumpster fire occupancy already. After attempting to find a few spots, we settled on a spot about halfway down Main Street. Not the best view, but plenty good.

When the fireworks were over, we weaseled along Main Street into Tomorrowland to make our way to Peter Pan. Once out of Peter Pan, both kids begged to go back to Thunder Mountain. So to Thunder Mountain we went. I think we rode it another 6 times. I think we’ve found our ride? We finished our last ride just after park closing at 11 pm. So we walked leisurely out of the park to the boat and back to the campsite a little after midnight.

Day 9 (04 July 2021)

EPCOT

Yet again, rain was in the forecast. So we slept in and enjoyed a slow morning. Once we got moving, we headed to EPCOT. The Seas was our main destination. The kids really enjoyed the aquarium. Being Sunday (or COVID?), we didn’t see many of the demonstrations that I remember in previous visits. There were several Cast Members wandering around ready to answer a direct or eavesdropped question, so that was nice. The kids had several questions that were answered and it was nice to see them interact with adults so well.

From the Seas we found our way over to Figment and then the Land. We did Soarin’ and Living with the Land again. The plants on the second part of the tour really interested Erin and Will, our gardeners in the family.

At this point it was about 330 pm. Not quite dinner time and we were EPCOT’d out. So we decided to hop on the Skyliner and go over to Hollywood Studios.

Hollywood Studios

Our first experience with the Skyliner was nice. It was quiet and efficient. The views were interesting as well.

At Hollywood Studios we jumped in line at Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (MMRR). MMRR is real cute and the kids really get a kick out of it. From MMRR we headed back to Toy Story land. The line for Toy Story Mania was pretty short, so we jumped in there to soak up some more AC.

After slinging darts, eggs, and balls at Toy Story Mania we grabbed dinner at Woody’s Lunchbox. I had eyed this spot when I was planning the trip, but I talked the family out of it on our first day at Hollywood Studios. It was convenient to where we were, so we gave it a try. The kids had the BBQ Brisket Melt, Erin had the grilled Cheese, and I had the Totchos. I also grabbed one of the pop tarts to split.

Well, I was a bozo. The food was quite good all around. We all enjoyed the pop tart so much, we ordered a second one to split as yet ANOTHER rain cell blew in. We enjoyed our second dessert under the umbrellas and waited until the rain passed.

From Woody’s we headed to Slinky Dog Dash. The passing storm had some lightning in it so we had to wait until it was far enough away. The kids enjoyed that almost as much as Big Thunder, except for the line.

Evening

When we came off Slinky Dog Dash it started to rain again. We gave up. So we headed back to Fort Wilderness. By the time we got back to the campsite the weather finally cleared for the night. There was enough time for us to grab our bikes and head down to the beach at Fort Wilderness for the 4th of July Beach Bash. There was a DJ and dancing. We came to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks more than anything. It was a little crowded and some of the revelers enjoyed their evening a little too much.

Once the fireworks were over the crowd was a little thick and it was difficult to get home between pedestrians and golf carts. I don’t know that I’d go back to the beach bash again. After braving the waters of everyone heading home, we got back to the campsite and settled in for the night.

Day 10 (05 July 2021)

Magic Kingdom in the Morning

This day was the first day that felt normal in the parks. We had some FL weather…some brief showers that blew through in less than an hour, crowds were normal sized, and the heat wasn’t overbearing. It was nice start to the day.

We got to MK just after opening at 9 am and went straight to Big Thunder Mountain. From there we split up. The boys headed to Splash Mountain while the girls rode Big Thunder Mountain a few times. We met back up and caught Small World, Haunted Mansion, and Swiss Family Treehouse.

Lunch was Pecos Bill’s followed by Dole Whip floats from Sunshine Tree Terrace. I really like the plain old pineapple Dole Whip, but the orange ones at Sunshine Tree are pretty darn good. While we were eating our ice cream we decided to beat the heat by going back to Fort Wilderness and get the kids to the pool. While the kids and Erin swam, Jack packed up the trailer so we will be ready to go in the morning.

The kids got about 45 minutes in the pool before a storm blew through. Jack had enough time to get everything packed away, tied down, covered up, etc except for the stinky slinky and the water hose. While it was raining we ate dinner. Just as the rain was slowing, we jumped back on the boat to Magic Kingdom.

Evening at Magic Kingdom Big Thunder Mountain

The boat eased into the Magic Kingdom dock around 730 pm and we jumped back into the Magic Kingdom fray. The crowd was pretty thin and people were heading more and more to the Hub throughout the evening to watch fireworks. We did Big Thunder Mountain a few more times, then the Regal Carousel, and Pooh.

After those rides, the kids requested a Sunshine Tree encore for dessert (don’t twist my arm too hard). We ate our ice cream just as the fireworks started.

After the ice cream was done, guess where we went? Yeah, Big Thunder Mountain. The kids couldn’t get enough. It took longer to walk from the exit of the ride to the beginning of the line than our wait for the next ride. On most of the the rides, we didn’t stop walking until we got to the cattle chute to line you up for the train. I think we rode a total of 15 times this day, probably flirting with 25-30 for the total trip. I’m glad they enjoyed it.

Around 10 pm I told the kids that we can do whatever they want until 1040 and then we were heading for the boat. There were some frumpy, sad faces as this was our last day at Walt Disney World because of the hurricane, but we had an early day to get on the road. They persevered and after that last Big Thunder Mountain ride we did Pirates of the Caribbean once and Aladdin’s flying carpets and few times.

We got back to the rig around 11 pm and hit showers and bed in preparation to head to Gulf Shores at first light.

Next Time

Thanks for reading along. Even though our Walt Disney World trip was cut short, we still had a great visit. Our new plan was to head to Gulf Shores, AL and stay at Gulf State Park. We’ll see you in the next post.

 

-See you out there.